Flight

by J. A. Huss

  My surety of who this man is wavers and I feel the same conflict in Gideon. Is this Tier? I ask.

  He shrugs internally. I don't know.

  Fuck.

  Fuck, he echoes.

  "Where's Tessen and Ryse?"

  "Down there, let's go. Ryse is waiting for us on ship."

  I shoot him in the back and watch him fall down, his eyes looking up at me in honest-to-God surprise.

  "Tessen didn't come, clone."

  "Fourteen minutes, Junco."

  We book it back up the stairs and when we get to the top the door is padlocked. I take out my SEAR and melt the lock, pull the door open, then wave the stubby plasma loop across the door jam and melt the door to the frame. I fall to the ground in a wave of pain as Isten's memories flood me again. I feel Gid next to me, taking the memories, then the pressure release, but before I can recover they're all in my head. All the siblings, all the clones, Aren, Tier, Moju, Iren, Sariel, Tukker, and even Soli and Gid.

  Junco, help us!

  Junco, don't walk away!

  Junco, we're here for you.

  We're your siblings. Don't leave us here.

  Please, Junco. They're killing us!

  Don't leave–

  Gideon shakes me hard. "Junco, put up a fucking wall right now, or–"

  "They have you, Gideon. I can hear him."

  "Yeah, so what. We're real, Junco. They are just copies!"

  "That doesn't make them fake, it makes them our twins. That's all the clones are, just–"

  "You're fucking crazy. They made them."

  "But they made me too–"

  "Junco, did your SEAR kill them?"

  I nod. "Yeah, but maybe those were mutants. These are clones, not mutants."

  He shakes his head at me. "Call for Lucan, right now."

  "No, I'm not done here yet."

  "Call him or–" He grabs my hand and I pull away and step back a few paces.

  "What the fuck are you doing? I'm not calling him, he's not supposed to be down here!"

  "The core is gonna blow in twelve minutes." He looks up to the sky, then back at me. "And I don't see your fucking friends. Call him!"

  I shake my head and grab the rifle. "We'll finish what we started, Tier will show up. I've got a beacon on me somewhere–"

  "Where, Junco? I don't see any fucking beacon on my screen. Where?"

  "Let me take the shot, and if they don't show up at two minutes I'll call Lucan. He'll come instantly, he's on ship. Trust me, OK?"

  He stays silent so I take this as acceptance. I sniper-crawl over to the ledge and reach back for Subjack's map of the compound. I see the cryo building and ask for Isten's scope-sight gift. A gift I now possess because I possess him. Gid crawls up to me as I snap down the bipod, but my eyes are on her.

  Iliana. She paces along her rooftop, agitated just like us, and looks worried about her pick-up, just like Gideon.

  I feel her and realize that she can feel my gaze, even from this distance.

  She pivots around looking, searching. For me. She doesn't know where I am. Then up in the sky, looking desperately for a hovercopter, no doubt. I'd be worried too if I were her, because I'm about to send a fucking 50-caliber round straight through her skull and blow up something else on the other side for good measure.

  I settle down and look through Isten's rifle. I flick the auto-scope on but use my eyes to make my observations, just using the one-shot as a backup. My eyesight is phenomenal and now I know why Isten did so well out on the range. Fucker was cheating.

  Was not, Junco. It was a gift.

  Isten? Where are you? Are you alive?

  What do ya mean, Snowbird? I'm fine. I'm in the stairwell, come open the door.

  I look over to Gideon but he's looking behind us, not even paying attention.

  "Maybe I should call Lucan?"

  He snaps his attention back to me. "What did I miss?"

  "They have clones of Isten too. He says he's in the stairwell."

  "Use it now, Junco. I am not even fucking around. We're not winning anymore, use it!"

  I rub my fingers together and there's a little spark of light as the gift kicks in.

  I wait.

  And wait.

  But no one comes.

  I look over to Gideon.

  "Ten minutes, Junco. Take the fucking shot, that's all we have left now!"

  I concentrate on the cryo building but Iliana is gone. "Fuck! She's not in sight." I scan what I can see of the rooftop that is at least a mile and a half away according to my newly enhanced vision screen, but there is no one out there. I wait. Patience is a huge part of being a sniper so I'm good at waiting. But it's not exactly the easiest thing to do when your vision screen is telling you that the entire valley will be glowing in nine minutes.

  I see her again, for just the briefest moment. She's on the other side of a small mechanical building on the roof, pacing, but on the wrong side of where I need her to be. The fact that she flicks in and out of sight in her movements tell me she that she's not actively hiding from me. She just happened to wander out of sight by accident.

  I start on my breathing, because that's how I take shots. It makes no sense to change my routine because I have a new gift and Isten's rifle. Stick with what works. I calibrate wind and direction, then realize that the dots on my vision scope are not mil-dots. They are something avian that no one thought to teach me.

  I shrug it off and get back to breathing.

  In out stop.

  In out stop.

  She's still on the other side of the building.

  I check the one-shot and compare it to my own observations. It's way fucking off, goddammit. Not even close. I have a small panic attack and watch Iliana come into view for a second, then slip out just as fast.

  Goddammit!

  Gideon's hand is on my back then and I feel his heartbeat as he passes it over to me as a calming mechanism. In my head he chants with me.

  In out stop.

  In out stop.

  I relax and decide to use the auto-scope on the rifle. It hasn't changed, but I have. I gifted myself scope sight, and that has to have consequences.

  One cold-bore shot, Junco. Either you do it, or it doesn't get done. One cold-bore shot and that bitch's brains will splat out the other side and she'll be history. Hopefully her fucking digital mind is stored on site too, and the core explosion will take care of any future Ilianas–

  "Get a fucking move on, Junco. Seven minutes."

  Bastard. Daydreaming about the kill shot is part of the process.

  I see another set of feet on the roof with Iliana now and I strain to make out who it might be. Gideon stirs behind me and then crawls back towards the door.

  The core meltdown sirens stop abruptly and the entire valley is silent. Then the wails erupt again with a countdown sequence.

  "Six minutes to full core meltdown. Six minutes to full core meltdown."

  The voice is female and projects a fake calm that makes all the people down below panic in response.

  I put my finger on the trigger, ready for my one opportunity, and then my attention is diverted by a commotion down below in the quad between two nearby buildings.

  It's Matthew. Or maybe not the Matthew, but a Matthew.

  I look over at Iliana but she's not visible. No shot. I point the rifle down at Matthew and reset the one-shot. It buzzes internally as I target his head. Then I smile and squeeze.

  My body is shunted back three feet from the recoil, but I don't even feel it, just wiggle back up into position and refocus on the blood-spattered pattern on the side of a nearby tree. I choke down a snort as people around him panic and look about.

  Gideon crawls up next to me. "What the fuck was that?"

  "Matthew. I got him in the head. Was too easy, really." And it was a little too much fun as well. I've spent a fair amount of time picking people off from a distance in my teens and sniping just feels an awful lot like home to me.

  "What th
e fuck is wrong with you? Shoot that goddamn bitch, Junco!"

  I ignore him and turn the rifle back towards cryo, waiting for her to appear.

  I see other people now, getting ready for the pick-up I assume. Once the hovercopter shows my chances are over. There's no way to get enough accuracy in that type of wind. The seconds stretch out and I begin to get jumpy as the alarm calls out the time left.

  Then, like a gift, another woman appears. Long golden hair, long golden gown. Now, who the fuck could that be? I wonder.

  "Inanna," Gid says, looking through the sniper scope.

  "Yeah, should I take the shot?"

  "Fuck yes, take the fucking shot!"

  I squeeze and watch the round blast though her skull. Inanna drops to the ground, her body an explosion of red as 25,000 foot per pound force of muzzle energy reaches out to kill her from more than a mile and a half away. Iliana panics and runs out into my line of sight and I squeeze again, blowing her left arm completely off.

  A laugh bursts out before I can tuck it down.

  "Junco, that's sadistic. Kill the girl, now!"

  I send off one more shot and blow apart her leg this time just because I can.

  "Goddamn it! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

  "Me? That bitch deserves it."

  He reaches over to take the rifle and I elbow him in the jaw, he tackles me and pins me down. "You're losing it, Junco. Snap back to me, now." I pull away and turn back to my scope sight. She's on the ground writhing in pain now. I end it for Gid. But if I was alone, I'd blow off her other arm, then her other leg. And let her sit there till she died of pain or blood loss. Because killing is my one true superpower.

  "Four minutes to full core meltdown. Four minutes to full core meltdown."

  "We're gonna die here, Gideon." I look over to him. "And I don't even care." I turn my rifle back to the valley floor and start picking off people just for the hell of it. Just to prove to them that I am the scariest bitch on the block. Sun Tzu, right? Desperate soldiers have no fear because if you're gonna go down. Well, fuck. You might as well go down fighting.

  He doesn't stop me this time, just lets me kill like a psychopath.

  And if you think about it, that's all I've ever been. A psychopathic killer who thinks it's funny to blow off someone's arm and let her writhe in pain.

  The world had better hope I die here today, because I've suddenly got an itch to become the Wind of Vengeance and show the world exactly what I'm made of.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  It only takes a few seconds for the people down below to scatter and target practice to be over, but things don't calm down, because the Runout defenses that were taken out earlier by Arel and Sera come back online and they are targeting me.

  The blast blows up the small roof access structure and Gid and I go tumbling over the side, falling towards the ground until I snap out of it and snatch his armor with my razors as my damaged wings unfurl and create a slight break in our rapid acceleration. He screams as I penetrate his skin and it echoes past the angry alarms accentuating the voice that patiently announces that we only have three minutes to core meltdown.

  We fall to Earth, still slamming hard at a pretty good rate, but not anything like it could have been. I release Gid and we roll and both pop back up in a run.

  My mini-plasma is out and firing at the Runout forces that are almost upon us in every direction when the avian ship appears above us and the hellfire rains down.

  It's pretty indiscriminate, being that individual solders are small targets for a cannon made to wipe out cities, and the wave of flame rolls towards Gid and me.

  He pulls me with him as he runs and throws me around a corner to escape the fireball. The blast rages past and I fall. Gid stops and pulls me to my feet, half dragging me along with him. Blue lights appear behind us as the Aves warriors make another drop to come get us, but the Runout defenses are between us and them.

  We can do nothing but put painful distance between us and our only hope of getting out of here alive. More explosions boom out in front of us as we approach the same building that housed the siblings just an hour ago. The roof is caved in from the blue light penetration, so we run around the back and slam right into Aren.

  I slip on the muddied sod and go down as Gideon raises his weapon to fire on the man who may or may not be my friend. It doesn't matter, because this Aren, whoever he is, dives for Gideon and knocks him to the ground.

  I am desperately trying to figure what's what when the bitch attacks me from behind and I go reeling backwards.

  Iliana's eyes rage red with hate as she stands over me and then swipes a set of razors across my chest, opening up my armor and penetrating wounds that have already seen way too much action. I scream out in pain and she laughs, just like I laughed as I shot off the other Iliana's arms and legs a minute ago.

  "My, my, Junco, you haven't changed a bit. No matter how many of you they make, you always end up the same. A sadistic, insane bitch of a girl who thinks she can withstand anything and hand out punishments like she is the Goddess of Retribution herself."

  I am a little distracted by the blood seeping out of my chest and my hand fiddling inside the gaping hole in my shirt armor to really get what she's saying at first, but then it all clicks and I look up at her. "Iliana, you never did get it, did you? That's why they love me so much, you dumb fuck. Because of my spirit. Because no matter what happens, I always go down fighting!" I pull the bloodied SEAR out of my torn shirt, powering it up to dagger size in one slick move, and I throw it at her with the confidence of a girl who's been wielding knives her whole fucking life.

  It spikes straight into her chest and sticks there as I watch, waiting to see if she's really me or not.

  The slow sizzle of her skin and the demonic wail of her scream tells me all I need to know.

  That bitch wasn't even close to being me. Not. Even. Fucking. Close.

  I scramble to my feet and pull my SEAR from her deteriorating body, then whirl to look back at Gideon. He's breathing hard and has a nasty plasma burn on his exposed arm where the armor has deteriorated, but Aren's body is charred and smoking in the wind created by war action.

  He grabs my arm and pulls me into a run once more, this time back towards the middle of the compound to find our fucking ship. We have one grenade left and Gideon lobs it at a vehicle full of soldiers. We haul ass, but the wave of energy and flames catch up and extract their payment and we end up flying through the air and landing hard on the grass.

  We get up once more and round another building to escape the intense heat, but we are flung back to the ground by a force so powerful my vision blinks out of existence.

  "Two minutes to full core meltdown. Two minutes to full core meltdown."

  I look up and see nothing but white.

  Shit! I died!

  That's not possible unless that stupid bitch Sera lied to me because I'm not done killing yet so how can I be satisfied?

  I get to my feet but before I'm even standing upright a woman appears in front of me. Her hair is wild, her chest is bare of clothing, and her skirt is lined with jewels. Her weapons are attached all over her person, like mine were when I first landed at Subjack's camp.

  And she is holding a little lapis lazuli wand covered in blue and white swirls.

  Inanna.

  "I killed you. I saw your head explode like a fucking watermelon rolling off the back of a farm truck." I'm not bragging, just stating the facts, but I'm not sure she sees it the same way.

  "You cannot kill me, Junco. I am High Order."

  I wait it out. I have no follow-up for that. Hell, I don't even know what it means.

  "You are mine, did you know that? You do not belong to Lucan." Her eyes dart around my face. "Or any of those other people." She waves her hand as if they hardly matter. "Subjack or that bitchy mother of yours."

  "I do not belong to you." I say it with confidence that I don't feel. Of course I'm hers, that's truly the only way this could end,
right? I mean, if you're a cynical, jaded, bitter teenager like me. Belonging to the one person, being, whatever, who I despise – is the only proper way to end this whole fucking mess.

  She smiles at me in the same way Esta did when I failed to pay attention during our first meeting. I half expect her to ask me how slow she needs to speak to get me to understand.

  "We will leave now, and you will comply with my orders. I will take you and we wait for the High Order to return so you can make your choice and put an end to all this nonsense."

  "No. Fuck that. I'm done." I throw down my SEAR and raise my chin. "I'm done, do you fucking hear me? Fuck you! Kill me, do whatever it is you want to do to me because I. Am. Done."

  She laughs. "Kill you, Junco? That's funny. You cannot die by my hand, you are my daughter and High Order as well."

  My head shakes and I laugh with her. Then stop and look her straight in the eye. I lean down and pick up my weapon and power it up. "Well, in that case, I'm gonna cut your head off every chance I get until the end of time." I fly at her and she flings me backward by simply raising her palm in my direction. I slam hard into the ground and stay there, trying to get my senses back for a moment.

  "Stop it, now. You are mine and you will comply, Junco. You will not return to the Band, you will remain with me until your part in all this can be put into play. But if you're a good girl I will allow the avians to pick up Gideon and remove him for safekeeping." She smiles down at me. "Until I'm ready to take him. He's mine as well."

  "No. I'm not a good girl, that's common knowledge. I'm a monster, just like you, just like my father, just like my mother. We're all monsters here."

  "True, you are not even close to anything human, and the being you will become will put Lucan to shame." She raises an eyebrow at me. "You have a destiny, I'm sure this has been explained to you already?"

  I stare at her. She cannot mean Sera. If I find out Sera is working for this bitch to get back at Lucan I will snap.

  "Lucan explained your part in the prophecy?"

  I look at her sideways. At least it wasn't Sera. "No, not exactly. Actually, I'm gonna have to go with no, absolutely not. He never mentioned you at all."